Suspension Base Suppliers has been updated- prices and selections current, new sources for international customers and dead links removed.

Automotive Suppliers has also been updated somewhat. The stores are left as well as what type of item they sell but the prices have been removed since there are usually better, lower priced products from the cosmetic suppliers.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Didspade[Custom Paint Additives] sells all the
things you’d expect from a company geared towards the automotive industry- metal flakes, pearl pigments, candy concentrates and of course
color shifting pigments which is what earned them a spot on my resource list(s)
but as with a lot of the companies I add, I’d never purchased anything so I had
no personal experiences or products to share with you before now. While I’ll be
showing you some of the Super Shift
pearls specifically, below is a general review of the available products:

I’m stubborn so I try to avoid buying pigments that are so
expensive, you buy them by the gram rather than by the ounce or half ounce- but I can only resist so long; most of the good ones are sold per gram so if you want to expand your
collection of color shifting pretties, you’re just going to pay more (but just because you have to pay a little more doesn't mean you can't still pay the least possible). Providing I
counted right, Didspade sells a whopping 38 different color shifting pigments,
from the fine particle size C Series to the more sparkly, larger sized Epic Series,
there’s bound to be something to suit just about every preference. Reasonably
priced, you can get 5 grams (or more if you so choose) which is plenty, enough
to make a simple pigment+base bottle of nail polish, or two, and still have some left to experiment with. I only own a
single one of these, C4, so I can’t say how they’d compare to colors from other
stores.

All the ColorShift Pearls are priced the same, 25 grams for $28.99 or "5 gram samples" for $5.80- only $1.16 per gram.

This brings us to the
real purpose of the review, Didspade’s line of SuperShift Pearls. These are
pricier than the other color shifters that Didspade offers, 5 gram sample for
$34.75 ($6.95/g) versus $1.16 per gram for the above, but I believe they are worth the
price. The description reads: "

Ultra high grade, intensely vivid color-shifting pearls- Top-of-the-line most dynamic shifts & richest colors available." and that has proven to be true for me.

Didspade didn’t release these all at one time so I acquired Nitron, Elixir, Invictus, Solis and Zionic at the beginning of April and the last 4- Dorado, Wildfire, Vibe and Lithium- about a week ago so some photos are in two sets and under different lighting. I did find these to be impressive regardless of whether they were layered over black, might even prefer them not layered, because it doesn’t take an extreme change in angle or lighting to display the color shift (and a few even remind me of the old Sally Hansen Nail Prisms). I'm sorry, no manicured nail pics here, anyone that knows me knows I rarely paint my nails but I will get nail stick photos posted soon. Didspade themselves provided plenty of better photographs on their website for individual colors so please consider mine secondary, added input. No trick photography here, just them doing the wonderful thing they do.

As soon as you open the package, still in their little bags, you can tell these are not your standard color shifters because not a single one is a white, orange or pink colored powder. I was perfectly content to stare at them in my hand and watch the color change initially.

In pairs:

Side bottle shots

Front view:

And individual bottle shots side by side with their bags.

Dorado

Elixir

Invictus

Lithium

Nitron

Solis

Vibe

Wildfire

Zionic

After letting my pictures speak for themselves, here's my conclusion:

It was a pleasant shopping experience and I had no reservations placing a second and third order- each one was nicely packed in a
bubble mailer and shipped in a reasonable time frame from Arizona to Kentucky
and I’ve been happy with what I’ve received. The shipping price however is
worth noting- on my 1st order of 5 grams total, I paid $8.99 for
shipping whereas on my 2nd and 3rd orders, both of which
were 4 grams total, I was charged $3.49 to ship each. I don’t know what the
reasoning for the price difference is and I haven’t asked but that means you can
order 4 grams twice and still pay less in shipping than for one 5 gram shipment. Also, if you do order 5 grams or more, you may have to sign for your package when it arrives, not an issue as long as someone is at home.

Didspade gets a A for customer service as well as their products. I've only contacted them once on an unrelated matter but they responded pretty quick, quick enough to satisfy me and I have relatively little patience sometimes. Ok, most the time.

Based on the color intensity, I might compare the SuperShift Pearls to the better known Ultra Chrome Chameleon (or Ultra Chameleon Chrome or UCCs), also highly concentrated color shifting pigment(s) that is sold by Glitter Unique and SpectraFlair4u- or the “Super Chameleon” pigments sold by Solar Color Dust. I don't own any of those either, for the record. Price per gram, Didspade's SuperShift Pearls are a slightly more affordable and satisfying alternative and you really should give them a chance. -MK